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Halstad man sentenced for sex sting conviction

FARGO — A Halstad, Minn., man charged in connection with a sex sting in Fargo in early 2017 was sentenced Tuesday, Jan. 2, to three days in jail, time he has already served.

Grant W. Goodsell earlier pleaded guilty in Cass County District Court to one count of patronizing a minor for commercial sex.

In addition to the jail sentence, Goodsell was ordered to pay $775 in fees and he will be on supervised probation for two years.

The sting involved area law enforcement officials who placed ads on websites and mobile apps through which contact with suspects was made. The apps included Grindr and Whisper, and the websites included Craigslist.com and Backpage.com.

The operation consisted of law enforcement officers placing an ad online for a young female. When suspects responded to the ad, the young female, actually an undercover female detective, would represent herself as someone younger than 18, according to court documents.

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